Inquisitor - Review @ GamerLive

September 28th, 2012, 01:43

Boring gameplay, that is the overall conclusion of this review of Inquisitor at Gamerlive, resulting in a score of 6 out of 10.

The game has a few interesting parts, such as dynamic music depending on location,level design that truly rewards and demands exploration as well as interesting locations. However all this is marred by the actual gameplay. Most mechanics are not well explained well, if at all. Character progression is a joke because if you try to build anything other than the best combatant possible you get destroyed in combat, but that still doesn’t stop it from being boring as hell. Also, you have stat called speed, it grants a buff to defence but it mostly just controls how fast you move. When moving in a large environment, I don’t want to move like a slug just because I choose to make a character that is strong not fast.

Combat works by taking turns hitting each other and using the occasional ability, Mostly though, you will be drinking health, stamina, and mana potions. Seriously. When ever I would leave town to do a few quests I would literally buy 75 health potions and 75 stamina potions. I’m not sure why Cinemax thought this would be good design

If you fight in Inquisitor like this you have to rely on potions. These modern reviewers have NO CLUE how to play a game in a intelligent way. The 'Codex would say Decline.

— For every complex problem, there is a solution that is simple, neat, and wrong. - HL Mencken

…The most damning, though, was when I found myself unable to progress because every single dungeon had some sort of floor trap in my path. Be they acid, lava, or a bottomless chasm, these patches of terrain are absolutely deadly, especially to your party members who might not take the optimal path across them. The solution to this is the Levitation spell. I looked it up in the manual and found that I lacked the proper magical book, so I purchased it. Then I realized that I needed a higher-than-basic mastery of the associated skill. On top of that, shop inventory is randomized and differs every time you speak to a given shopkeeper, so I searched in vain for the spell scroll itself at the shopkeeper in Hillbrandt's church (who has a plethora of scrolls for sale at all times). So, just to proceed on with the game, I would have to grind levels to achieve enough mastery of a skill I hadn't possessed at the start so that I could learn and cast a spell I wasn't yet able to find for purchase. I had to step away from the game for a while at this point.

Yes, Inquisitor has some hiccups and questionable design choices (such as the audio; you'll hear the distinctive noises of various monster types whether or not they're onscreen as long as they're in the area, and the mooing of the cows and odd, breathless gasps of women one hears in town are oddly out of place). Its age shows, but so does the passion of the individuals who put their time and effort into producing it. The translation is very good, which is beyond impressive with the quantity of text on display. It is not a game that will appeal to everyone, not by a long shot, but for those who think they would enjoy a title that harkens back to an earlier, less cinematic, far less forgiving era of gaming, Inquisitor has plenty of meat to sink your teeth into.

— For every complex problem, there is a solution that is simple, neat, and wrong. - HL Mencken

Ha, funny one of the things I like about the game is you have to think about how you build your character. I am not that far into the game yet but enjoying it alot. I remember when games used to require you to think and penalized you for making certain choices.

Now my opinion might change as I play this game more but I am really enjoying it so far in the 10 to 15 hours I have played it to this point. I think more modern gamers have become spoiled because most games now just make everything to easy because its what people expect these days.

Duh, you need 6 in the appropriate spellbook to cast levitation!! It doesn't take long to get there. It also takes only a few attempts with the seller for his inventory to offer the spell. Ah, patience grasshopper!!

Originally Posted by Corwin
Duh, you need 6 in the appropriate spellbook to cast levitation!! It doesn't take long to get there. It also takes only a few attempts with the seller for his inventory to offer the spell. Ah, patience grasshopper!!

I agree with your point, however the design could have been better if there was an alternative way to bypass a lava pool. Replaying the game as a thief i came to that conclusion anyways. Then again, one potion of health can overcome a lava pool too

Originally Posted by Corwin
Duh, you need 6 in the appropriate spellbook to cast levitation!! It doesn't take long to get there. It also takes only a few attempts with the seller for his inventory to offer the spell. Ah, patience grasshopper!!

You are right, they did add something new, now you don't have to wait a set time for the merchants stuff to change, just exit the conversation and click on him again and magically all his inventory is new. Although this does take away the ability to see a sword you like and come back and buy it…but who knows 5 to 10 clicks of that merchant may bring it back.

Originally Posted by rune_74
You are right, they did add something new, now you don't have to wait a set time for the merchants stuff to change, just exit the conversation and click on him again and magically all his inventory is new. Although this does take away the ability to see a sword you like and come back and buy it…but who knows 5 to 10 clicks of that merchant may bring it back.

And that's fun? Sounds more like laziness on the designers' part and harkens back to games where you could Save, then open a chest and if you didn't like what you got you'd reload and try again.

Sorry, I haven't played the game and I'm seeing a lot of vastly different opinions. For the price I'm tempted to get it to see for myself, but the reviews do make it sound more like an exercise in frustration.

Originally Posted by Fargol
Sorry, I haven't played the game and I'm seeing a lot of vastly different opinions. For the price I'm tempted to get it to see for myself, but the reviews do make it sound more like an exercise in frustration.

This is a game for you, if you
like carefully exploring without handholding
like to plan and build your character to survive in a hostile environment
like to use some tactics to survive challenging fights
read much text and play Sherlock Holmes to figure out what to do next

This is NOT a game for you if you
want quest markers on a map
want to play fun characters
like easy braindead fights a la Diablo
don't like reading text at all

the changing gear in shops is a minor if you're past the first few levels - you buy only potions and magical boxes later in the game.

— For every complex problem, there is a solution that is simple, neat, and wrong. - HL Mencken

Originally Posted by HiddenX
This is a game for you, if you
like carefully exploring without handholding
like to plan and build your character to survive in a hostile environment
like to use some tactics to survive challenging fights
read much text and play Sherlock Holmes to figure out what to do next

This is NOT a game for you if you
want quest markers on a map
want to play fun characters
like easy braindead fights a la Diablo
don't like reading text at all

the changing gear in shops is a minor if you're past the first few levels - you buy only potions and magical boxes later in the game.

Thanks for the reply. I'm almost certain to pick it up, but I DO want to play fun characters and while text is fine, I don't want to have to read the equivalent of War and Peace.

And while I don't necessarily want quest markers, I don't want the game to require I stumble around blindly to figure out by accident where I need to go.

But yes, I like games that challenge, but not absurdly so. For example, I have no doubt that I need to stay away from Dark Souls for the sake of my sanity and every breakable object within reach

If people would just stop trying to do the combat like they would in Diablo they would have fun in combat. You are not meant to run into the middle of the enemies and fight them all at once. Come at them a few at a time and combat won't be frustrating.

The game has a very good journal. You don't have to read all the text as you talk to everyone, just make sure to talk to them. The journal will keep track of the stuff you need to proceed in the game, such as evidence, etc. I suggest talking to everyone in town and choose all conversation topics. Then go back through the town a 2nd time because people will have a few more topics after talking to everyone. Then read your journal and decide what you want to focus on. I'll list the outdoor areas by ease of combat:

Originally Posted by crpgnut
The game has a very good journal. You don't have to read all the text as you talk to everyone, just make sure to talk to them. The journal will keep track of the stuff you need to proceed in the game, such as evidence, etc. I suggest talking to everyone in town and choose all conversation topics. Then go back through the town a 2nd time because people will have a few more topics after talking to everyone. Then read your journal and decide what you want to focus on. I'll list the outdoor areas by ease of combat:

To cast spells or use skills from your hotkey bar you push the button (example 3) and then either right click on the target of the spell/skill or right click and the cursor will change and then left click on the target. Acouple of examples are the spell Purge which you right click on the target to use where as Thievery you right click to change the cursor and then click on the object you want unlocked.